Kane and Abél (Bleach: Jūchin)
Hide-and-Spook "Akari!" called a woman dressed in fine clothes. The vast golden fields hid everything from view. She trudged through the waist-high grasses, calling out again, "Akari Kurosaki! Where are you?" "Boo!" called a girl who looked similar to the woman who called for her: black hair, purple eyes, and cherub face. The only difference was that the girl looked to be about 8 years old. "Eek!" The woman fell down in surprise. Akari giggled in ecstasy from seeing the woman fall. "Very funny," said the woman, annoyed slightly. She smirked, then grabbed Akari and tickled her. Akari struggled to get free, but she was too caught up in laughing uncontrollably and squirming to get free, only trapping herself more in the process. "Mama! Stop it! I'll split my sides!" The woman tickled her more, and Akari screamed from delight. "You made me worried till I felt like I was going to split my side. It's only fair you feel the same!" The mother and daughter looked as happy as could be. The woman ceased her attack on her daughter, which led to Akari kissing her mother on the cheek. "You're such a rascal." "Dad said you were the same when you were my age," retorted Akari playfully. Her mother rolled her eyes. "Not an excuse." She stood up carrying Akari. "We need to get back to the camp." Akari nuzzled close to her mother and smiled, "All right." "Hana! Akari!" called a man dressed in regal clothing. His countenance exposed a serious, concerned look of a father. "Come quickly, we're on the move again!" The woman called Hana flashed next to the man. "We were on our way. Our prankster daughter decided to play a game of hide-and-spook." The man raised his eyebrows. "Surely you mean 'hide-and-''seek'?" Akari grinned, "Nope!" The man smiled, gently ruffling his daughter's hair. "Daddy!" Akari's embarrassment showed when she tried to straighten her short hair to no avail. "Really, Kashi?" Hana narrowed her eyes at her husband. Kashi chuckled, and held his wife's chin as he kissed her. In the midst of this, Akari was caught between her parents, sticking out her tongue at her parent's affection. She didn't understand why they did that. When the kiss was broken, Kashi looked to the west. "We must go back to the camp now." Hana nodded, as did Akari. The family of three made their way back to their wandering home. Caravan Storyteller ''Life here isn't so bad, thought a guard. At least we can stay out of the conflicts that the houses of Kurosaki and Kawahiru go through. He walked beside 2 of the carts in the huge caravan of 500 people. The caravan traveled all across West Rukongai in search of a good piece of land to call their own. "It's a tale as old as history itself!" said the eccentric old man. He sat in the front of a cart being pulled by some strong horses with about 5 or 6 children sitting in the back listening to his tale. There he goes again, thought the guard. The old man had often told stories to the children of the caravan. Now he was going on about his favorite tale, which the guard knew would lead to the old man's heart acting up again. "As you all know, this caravan consists of nomadic members of the Kurosaki Family who wished not to be involved with the Clan Wars. Long ago, a rogue by the name of Kurama Kawahiru massacred a village of Kurosaki, Getsueikirite, and Kawahiru clan members. His actions created enmity between some of the Kurosaki clan members and the Kawahiru clan members. Because of this, we all separated ourselves from the warring factions as to not be caught in the crossfire." "Where is Kurama now, Ojii-san?" asked an attentive boy. "They say that Kurama fled to the land of the Hollows, Hueco Mundo, for asylum from those who would kill him," answered the old man. "Yeah right!" said a portly child. "He'd be killed from the Hollows." "But didn't he kill the head of the Getsueikirite of his time?" asked the first child. "Joshua was a warrior of great courage, renowned for his valor and strength." "He was weak!" snapped the fat boy. "Clam it, chowderheads," said a girl. "Let's just listen to Grandpa Rai's story." Rai nodded to the girl. "Thank you, Sakurasō." He glared at the second boy, "Zunguri, I have to ask you to leave." "Why?" whined Zunguri, the fat child. Rai's reiatsu raised to where Zunguri could feel his ominous presence. "Now." Drops of sweat fell from Zunguri's puffy cheeks. He ran away crying for his parents. The children were unfazed; things like this happened often. "Now where were we?" asked Rai. "You were talking about where Kurama was," said the first child. "Ah, thank you, Kenmei. Yes, Kurama wandered Hueco Mundo defeating many Hollows and adding their power to his." "What about when Kurama was offered a deal to regain his powers?" asked a soothing, yet stern voice. Kashi stood on the outside rail of the cart, painfully close to the large back-right wheel. He jumped in and sat next to two of the children. Rai smiled, "Kashi, maybe you should tell the tale instead of me." Kashi chuckeled, "I cannot compare to your knowledge, Master." "True," said Rai. "Regain his powers?" Kenmei was really into the story now. "Yes," answered Rai. "Kurama was met by an ancient Hollow who offered to give Kurama the power he had at his prime by fusing with many Hollows." "Fusing with Hollows?" asked Kenmei. The other children scooted up to hear the wizened storyteller's tale. "Yes," answered a grave Rai. "Kurama's power was returned to him and he slaughtered the village where Joshua and his family lived. The children shuddered, including Kenmei. Sakurasō sidled next to Kenmei. "He...He wouldn't come after us, would he?" asked Kenmei nervously. Rai smiled, "Of course not. Kurama Kawahiru is a myth." Only Kashi could see that Rai was lying, but he didn't want to worry any of the children, so he kept quiet. "All right, time for all of you to get to your parents." Without a cue, the driver stopped, allowing the children to run off to their families. After they had left, Kashi looked at Rai with a look that said, 'what were you thinking?' "I have little else to do, Kashi," said Rai. "I am very old, and I have seen much of the world." "You're not close to dying are you?" Rai did not answer. "I sense another will come to take up the mantle of 'Shadow Warrior'." Kashi rolled his eyes. "The Hollows have been unable to break through the barriers into the Soul Society. And the Shadow Warrior title is gibberish. You're much to stubborn to die. Who dies here anyway?" Rai humphed. "I have sustained my life this long to pass on my knowledge to the one who must face Kurama. I have not the power required to defeat him. And sadly, neither did my father. I doubt my son has the power to beat Kurama either. Even after training under Shūshi Kaenōra and fighting with Kuno-san, I knew I was no match for Kurama." Kashi narrowed his eyes. "It's just one pessimistic view after another with you." Rai glared at Kashi. "Sorry. That was in poor taste." "No, you're right. After all my training and battling with the Yonkō, I never felt like I could challenge the power that destroyed my parents." Kashi stroked his chin. "You said your mother hid your existence from Kurama as a last ditch attack, right?" "Yes." "Then what's the problem?" "I can't just live life existing. I want to do something to avenge my parents' deaths." Rai began trembling again. "I cannot forgive that...that...sly fox for killing them." Kashi shook his head, "You need rest. Go to sleep, Rai." "Hmph, I can't voice my opinion without someone thinking ill of me." He pulled a blanket over his shriveled frame and immediately fell to sleep. It was still daytime. Kashi didn't reply. He knew Rai was trying to goad him into arguing. Mischief "Come on Akari!" called Kenmei. "My grandpa can walk faster than you!" "That's because you keep flashing away, idiot!" barked Akari. The two played a game of Tag, and Kenmei was known for his speed and dodging capabilities. "Not my problem, slowpoke!" Kenmei continued to elude Akari. "ARRGH!" Akari fell to the ground, crying. "Baby..." said Kenmei. "You're so mean!" Akari sobbed. "Aw, come on!" called Kenmei. As he flashed over to Akari, he tripped on something and fell face-first into the ground. This caused great amounts of laughter to come from Akari's mouth. "It's not funny!" yelled Kenmei. "It only hurts when I laugh!" Akari's laughter turned to a mix of giggles and coughs. "Whatever." Kenmei got up to get a better look at what he tripped over. It was a boy about his age. The boy had raven colored hair that could have been mistaken for velvet. He wore fine clothes, or at least finer than the rags Kenmei adorned himself with. The boy lying on the ground had a black kimono with a white belt cloth, tabi, and zori. "What is it?" asked Akari as she ran over to Kenmei. She stopped to look down at the boy. "Whoa! Who is he?" Kenmei put his arm back to shy Akari away. "Get back! He may be an enemy!" "What? No way," retorted Akari. "No enemy could be that handsome." "Hey! I'm handsomer than him!" said Kenmei, not really knowing what he was saying. "Yeah, right." Akari rolled her eyes. "You're about as handsome as a rock." "Whaddya mean?!" Kenmei was about to charge Akari when a hand grasped his wrist. He looked to see that the boy lying unconscious was indeed alive. Kenmei was too surprised to react properly. "Leave her alone." said the boy in a monotone voice. Kenmei regained control of his hand. Akari's amazement at the boy's reactions showed all over her face. "Where am I?" asked the boy. "You're in West Rukongai," answered Akari. "West Rukongai?" The boy stared long at Akari. "How can that be?" "I dunno, you tell me," said Akari, skeptical as to this boys health. "Where are you from?" "South Rukongai. I remember a fire. I was scared...something came after me. It had claws, long orange hair, and a hellish mask with horns." The boy looked at Akari and Kenmei, then realizing that his story began frightening them. "It reached for me, then I blacked out. Next thing I know, I'm in a field meeting you...Um..." "I'm Akari." She pointed to Kenmei. "That louse is Kenmei." "I'm not a louse!" barked Kenmei. He turned his attention back to the boy. "Anyway, who are you?" "Hikaru. Hikaru Kurosaki." Across the Plains